Grain cradle



v o. o. SCHWQB 75 GRAIN CRADLE Filed Oct. 26, 1922 Patented July 15, 1924.

OLIVER O. SGHWOB, OF MOUNDSVIL-LE, WEST VIRGINIA GRAIN CRADLE.

Application filed October 26, 1922. Serial No. 597,052.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, OLIVER O. SoHwoB, a 7 citizen of the United States, residing at; Moundsyille, in the county of Marshall and State of Vest Virginia, have iiiiventedcertain new and useful Improvements in Grain Cradles, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to grain cradles and has for its object the provision of a novel knock-down cradle which may be shipped in a small compass and readily assembled by the user without requiring skilled labor. A further object ofthe inent-ion is to provide means whereby the assembling of the parts may be rapidly accomplished and the parts will be held rigidly in the working relation 7 after being assembled.

Grain cradles, as now generally placed upon the market, have their several constituent parts rigidly connected in such a manner that they cannot be easily disassembled, and. asa result the fingers and other parts are frequently broken in transportation and if any one part should be broken in use, the entire cradle must be laid aside until it can be repairedor renewed byskilled workmen. The inability of the user ofthe. device to make repairs deters farmers from using cradles with the result that the cost of harvesting is increased. The cost of shipping is also increased inasmuohas-unnecessary space is required in packing numbers of the cradles for shipment, but all of these disadvantages areovercomebythe use of myr en n e t n h. Pro ide a cradle of such oonstructionth at any finger may beremoved without removing other fingers as is now necessary in; most-cradles upon the market. r

In the accompanying drawings Figure lis a perspective View of once-1n bodiment of my invention;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged detail section on the line 2-.2 ofFig. 1; I

Fig. 3 is an enlarged detail perspective View of the coupling employed to connect the post and a finger of the cradle;

Fig. 4; is anenlarged detail view, of a brace employed to connect the innermost finger with the blade of the scythe;

Fig. 5 is an enlarged detail showing the fitting of a connectingv bar to the fingers, and

Fig. 6 is a detail perspective view of a portion of the said connecting bar.

The blade 1 and the snath 2 are of the usual form except as may be hereinafter noted, the blade being provided with a tang 3 which is secured to the end of the snath by a ring 4; or by an eyebolt through the plate 5 of the usual or any preferred construction, said plate being extended and secured to the end of the post 6 in the manner now generally employed or otherwise as the user of the device may prefer. The post- 6 ispreferably a bar of circular cross section and is of the dimensions now generallyemployed inrgrain cradles. Thefingers 7 extend from the post in parallel relation and have the usual curved form corresponding to the curvature of the blade as is now the general practice. At their buttends, the fingers are tapered, as shown at 8, to fit snugly within a tapered or conical ferrule 9, and the ferrule isformed with or connected to a coupling plate 10. The said coupling plate is of semi-circular form in cross section and its side members are provided with openings 11 to receive the ends of a securing bolt 12 which is inserted through the said openings and through a suitable opening provided therefor in the post 6, as shown clearly in Fig. 2 and as will be readily understood. A rivet 13 or an equivalent fastening device is inserted through the forward larger end of the ferrule and through the tapered extremity of the finger so as to rigidlysecure the finger in the ferrule and preventwithdrawal of thesame. The provision of the ferrules permits large fingers to be used without requiring large openings to be formed through the post while at'the same time a very strong connection between the fingers and the post is attained so that the post and the fingers: will be firmly-held in set relation after the wing nuts have been turned home. It will be noted that in Fig. 2 I have shown the ferrule as formed separately from the coupling plate 10 which is provided centrally with an. opening to receive the smaller end of the ferrule, after whichthe said end of-the ferrule is spread or flared so as to engage the inner surface of the coupling plate around the opening thereiniand thereby prevent the ferrule pulling fron1= the plate. The spread or flared :end of the ferrule may be brazed 'or otherwise intimately connected with. the coupling plate, but this particular construction need not be employed and the ferrule and the plate may be cast as one integral structure, as is obvious. The openings 11 in the sides of the clamping plate 10 are preferably in the form of slots so that the free ends of the fingers may be adjusted and spaced as desired, theconnect-ions of the fingers with the bar 14 permitting a limited somewhat pivotal movement of the fingers about the respective bolts 16 beforethe nuts 18 are turned home. To reinforce the fingers and. maintain them in proper spaced relation, I employ the connecting bar 14 which extends across the fingers in advance of the postand parallel therewith. At equi-dist-ant points along the connecting bar 14, openings 15 are formed therethrough and these openings register with similar openings in the fingers to receive fastening bolts 16. The side edges of the connecting bar are slightly converging towards the fingers and across the fingers are formed grooves 17 having their side walls outwardly flaring so that, when the bar is engaged in the grooves, they will have a wedging fit and will be tightly secured therein when the nuts 18 on the bolt 16 are turned home, as will be readily understood upon reference to Fig. 5. When the connecting bar has been secured in place upon the fingers, relative movement of the parts is positively prevented, and this result is accomplished without cutting away the bodies of the fingers to such an extent as to weaken them, the side edges of the bar, which are straight although not at a right angle to the faces of the bar, abuttingthe side walls .of the notches or grooves in the fingers positively and effectually preventing any twisting movement of either part.

To further reinforce the structure, a brace 19 is secured at one end in any preferred manner in the snath 2 and at its opposite end is removably engaged in a finger '7 and detachably secured therein by a nut 20 fitted on the threaded extremity of the brace, as clearly shown in Fig. 1. lVhile the non-adjustable bolt and thimble now in common use may be employed to connect the blade and the innermost finger, I provide a coupling brace 21 which has one end threaded and fitted through an opening provided therefor in the innermost finger 7 and equipped with winged nuts 22 and 23 at the opposite sides of the finger whereby proper adjustmentof the nuts will securely clamp the brace in the said finger. The end of this coupling brace remote from the finger 7 is engaged through an opening 24 in the blade 1 and its extremity is turned forwardly, as shown at 25, to form a lug or tongue adapted to engage against the under side of the blade. Near the lower or outer extremity of this coupling brace 21 is an addit-ional tongue or lug 26 which projects from the shank of the brace in a direction opposite to the tongue or lug 25 and is spaced from the said lug ortongue a distance equal to the thickness of the blade, as shown in Fig. 4. In .assembling this brace with the blade and the finger, the tongue or lug 25 is inserted through the opening 24 in the blade and the brace is then rocked so that the lugs 25 and 26 will engage the opposite surfaces of the blade, the portion of the brace between the lugs filling the opening as shown in. Fig. 4. The finger T is then engaged over the threaded end of the brace and after the finger has been properly coupled to the post, the nuts 22 and 23 are turned home against the finger so that the parts will be rigidly connected. The brace 19 may obviously have its outer extremity withdrawn from or inserted in the opening provided therefor in the innermost finger 7 and the assembling of the parts when the cradle is to be used or the packing of the same for transportation or storage may be easily and quickly accomplished. In assembling the fingers with the post after the post has been coupled to the snath, the

ferrules 9 are secured upon the tapered ends of the fingers and the coupling plates 10 fitted over the post. The securing bolts 12 are then inserted through the registering openings in the coupling plates and the post and the nuts 27 on the said bolts turned home so that the parts will berigidly secured together. After the fingers are all assembled with. the post, the connecting bar '14 is fitted in the grooves 17 in the several fingers and secured, as previously stated.

From the foregoing description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, it will be seen that I have provided an exceedingly simple construction whereby the constituent members of a cradle may be easily assembled or disassembled and, when assembled for use, will be held rigidly in the operative relation. The construction employed doesnot increase the weight of the cradle over the weight of the rigid cradles nowgenerally employed and if any one finger should be broken, it is not necessary to remove any other fingers as is now necessary in grain cradles as usually made. Also the connecting bar 14 and the post 6 can be more easily removed than is the case with the cradles as now generally constructed.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new is:

1. The combination of a scythe blade having an opening therethrough, a snath, a post connected with the snath and the scythe blade, fingers coupled to the post, and a coupling brace extending through an opening in the blade at one end and provided at said end with oppositely extending lugs adapted to engage the opposite surfaces of the blade and having its opposite end extending through and adjustably secured in the innermost finger.

2. In a grain cradle, the combination of a post having spaced openings therethrough, a plurality of fingers, ferrules secured upon the inner ends of the several fingers, parallel clamping plates carried by each of said ferrules and embracing the post and provided With longitudinal slots to register with the openings in the post, the longitudinal axis of each ferrule lying between the clamping plates carried thereby, and securing devices inserted through the said registering slots and openings in the coupling plates and the post.

3. In a grain cradle, the combination of a post, a plurality of fingers having tapered butt ends, frusto conical ferrules encircling and secured upon the said tapered ends of the fingers, coupling plates carried by the smaller ends of said ferrules and disposed at opposite sides of and equi-distant from the ferrules to embrace the post, and means for securing the said coupling plates to the post.

4. In a grain cradle, the combination of a post, a blade, a snath, means for connecting the blade and the post to the snath, a plurality of parallel .fingers, detachable couplings connecting the fingers to the post, a connecting bar extending across the fingers parallel with the post and detachably secured to each finger and held against relative movement thereon, a brace secured to' the snath at one end and secured at its op-' posite end to the innermost finger in advance of the said connecting bar, and a bracing coupling adjustably secured at one end in the said finger in rear of the connecting bar and having its opposite end engaged through the blade and provided with oppositely ex tending lugs engaging against the opposite surfaces of the blade;

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature.

OLIVER O. SCHWOB. 

